Door operated traffic surface for textile treating cabinet



Nov. 8, 1955 H. RICHTER ET AL 2,723,176

DOOR OPERATED TRAFFIC SURFACE FOR TEXTILE TREATING CABINET Filed Feb. 20, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INI /ENTOR5.

Z- 3 5 flen mm fl 55 BY fizmmA/Qza Nov. 8, 1955 H. RICHTER ET AL DOOR OPERATED TRAFFIC SURFACE FOR TEXTILE TREATING CABINET Filed Feb. 20, 1952 Nm- AN AN QN United States Patent DOOR OPERATED TRAFFIC SURFACE FOR TEXTILE TREATING CABINET Henry Richter and Howard N. Campbell, Kankakee, Ill.,

assignors to Paramount Textile Machinery Co., Kankakee, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application February 20, 1952, Serial No. 272,664

7 Claims. (Cl. 312318).

The present invention relates to improvements in textile treating cabinets and more particularly to improvements in treating cabinets of the kind having a doorway in an exterior Wall thereof through which a truck, carrying numerous articles to be treated, may be moved bodily into the cabinet. Such cabinets are used, for example, in the hosiery industry for subjecting successive batches of hosiery to carefully controlled atmospheric treating mediums such as steam, hot highly saturated air, and dry air, the treating medium or mediums employed in each case depending upon the results desired. In the use of cabinets of this kind, hosiery may be hung upon a mobile truck such as is shown and described in United States Patent to Henry Richter, No. 2,572,893 issued October 30, 1951, and the loaded truck rolled intothe cabinet wherein the articles may be subjected to the desired treatment while being supported by the truck.

In order that substantially identical treating atmospheres may be reproduced time after time in a cabinet of the kind just referred to, it is important that the cabinet be provided with doors that fit tightly in closed position and that they serve hermetically to seal the cabinet. To this end it is desirable to use external, outwardly swinging doors that overlap the outer edge of the door sill and the other outer edges of the doorway in sealing engagement, for such doors are relatively inexpensive to construct and maintain and they may be moved to a wide open position that will not interfere with movement of the truck into and out of the cabinet.

The use of doors of this kind, however, creates a problem in the provision of a satisfactory traflic surface over which a truck may be rolled into the cabinet. In order that the outwardly swinging doors may overhang or overlap the front edge of the door sill when in closed position, the sill must be disposed well above the plane of the lowermost edges ofthe doors. Thus, a stationary trafiic surface fixed on a level with the door sill cannot be employed in front of the doorway outside the cabinet, for the trafiic surface would be in the path of the lower edges of the doors and would interfere with the opening and closing of the doors.

Heretofore this problem has been met by employing a ramp plate such as is shown in the above mentioned patent to Henry Richter, the plate being hinged at one of its edges to the floor of the cabinet just inside the doorway and being arranged, when the cabinet doors were open, to be folded forwardly and downwardly from its normal position inside the cabinet to an operative position across the door sill to provide a ramp up' which a truck laden with hosiery or other. articles may be rolled into the cabinet. In order for the doors again to be closed, however, it has been necessary that the plate be lifted and rotated upwardly and inwardly back to its normal position within the cabinet, the movement of the plate from one of its positions to the other being accomplished manually.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide, in combination witha textiletreating cabinet of the general character described above,'a.movable; traflic surface disposed outside the doorway of the cabinet, the trafiic surface having a receded position outside the path of movement of the door or doors of the cabinet to permit the same to be opened or closed and having an operative position substantially on a level with the door sill of the cabinet in the path of the doors to permit movement of a truck across the traffic surface into the cabinet, the movement of the traffic surface from one of its positions to the other being accomplished entirely automatically in response to movement of the doors. Another object of the invention is to provide a vertically movable ramp outside the doorway of a textile treating cabinet, the ramp being automatically lifted from a position below the path of movement of the doors of the cabinet to a position substantially on a level with the door sill of the cabinet by means engaged by the doors upon movement to their open position. i

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a textile treating cabinet embodying the present invention, the doors of the cabinet position to permit a mobile textile supporting truck to be rolled out of the cabinet;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the lower left corner of the front of the cabinet showing a ramp lifting lever that is engaged by the lower edge of the door to lift the ramp when the door is moved to its full open position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the lower portion of the front of the cabinet showing the doors in closed position and the ramp in its receded position;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 44 in Fig. 3 showing in broken lines the position of the doors in their full open positions;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 in Fig. 3 showing the relative position of the ramp with respect to the lower edge ofone of the doors and with respect to the door sill of the cabinet when the doors are in closed position; and

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the position of the ramp with respect to the sill of the doorway when the doors are in open position.

In the drawings the numeral 10 designates generally a textile treating cabinet having an upper wall 11, side walls 12 and 13 and a back wall 14, each of the walls being of hollow construction and, if desired, containing suitable heat insulating materials. The entire front of the cabinet is open to provide a doorway through which a mobile textile supporting truck may be moved into the interior of the cabinet, a pair of outwardly swinging doors 15 and 16 being provided for opening and closing this doorway.

The bottom of the cabinet, in the form shown in the drawings, comprises a bottom plate 17 which may be supported on a floor or other level surface 18 (Fig. 5) by means of legs 19 (Fig. 2). At the front of the cabinet this bottom plate has an upturned flange 17a within which is secured, by welding or otherwise, a lower leg Zllaof a door sill frame 20 which extends across the cabinet from one side wall to the other at the bottom of the doorway. The upper portion of this door sill frame 20 comprises a second leg 20b that extends forwardly substantially horizontally from the topof the leg 20a to provide a sill for the doorway of the cabinet. A floor supporting plate 21 occupies the entire bottom of the cabinet above the bottom plate 17 and is suitably secured to the inside surface of the side walls 12 and 13 and the back Wall 14 of the cabinet. At the-front of the cabinet thefloorsupportingplateJLhas--a-down-wardlyextend ing flange 21a that is welded or otherwise secured to the inner surface of the vertical leg a of the sill frame 20: Resting'on-the'upper'surface'of -the fioor supporting plate 21'is -a -floor'liner'2-2tha-t may be welded along its side edg'es to the inner-surface of the side walls 12 and. 13 of the cabinet--and along its back edge'to the inner surface of theba-clcwall 14 to provide vapor-tight joints therebetween At the front of the cabinet the floor liner 22 extends upwardly and forwardly over the leg 20b of the silffr'ame; theforwa-rd extremity of the floor liner being formed around the front'edge of the sill frame as at 23.

An upper ;-floor 24- of the cabinetrests upon'thefi'oor liner22substantially ona'levelwiththe top of the'substantially horizontally-and forwardly extending-leg 20b of the door -sill frame20; suitable'supports (not shown) being disposed between the upper floor 24' and-the floor liner 22in order to maintain'the two-in parallel,- spacedapart-relationship; The side'edges ofth'e upperfioor24 are spaced inwardly from the side walls 12and 13 of the cabinetas at 24a, and the forward edge of'th'e upper floor may-be spaced inwardlyslightly from the rear edge of the door sill. Steam or other textile treating medium may be introduced under the floor-24'into thespace 25 between the floor and the floor liner 22; a suitable means for so introducingsteam being illustrated and described in the above mentioned patent tovI-Ienry Richter. Fromthe space 25"the textile treating medium will fiow upwardly into the interior of the cabinet proper through the spaces- 24a provided along the sides of the upper floor 24 and through the space between the ,front edge of the upper floor and the door sill'frame 20.

In the form of-the cabinet shown in the drawings, ,the forward edges of the sidewalls 12 and '13 and the top. wall 11 are each definedby a frame member 26 of L.-shaped cross-section (Fig. 4)"h'aving one leg 26a disposed in position parallel to the plane of the doorway at the front of the cabinet and another leg 26!) extending forwardly therefrom. The inner .surfaces 12a and 13a of theside walls 12and 13, respectively; may extendfo'rwardly along the sides of the .legs 26b and may, be folded around the forward ends of these legs to provide door engaging surfaces12b'and 13b along the front edges of the walls 12v and 13. The inner surface of the top. wall 11 may be similarly treated to provide a door engaging surface 111) across the top of the doorway.

The doors 15 "and"16.are. mounted at the front edges of the side walls 12'and 13 by means of a plurality of hinges shown generally at .21. The base portions. 28 of these hinges are provided With-flanges 29Qthat may be secured to ,the forward surface of, thelegs-la of the, upstanding L-shaped frame members y2 6 by means of bolts 30. The. baseportions 28jofthehinges are bifurcatediand extend forwardly and outwardly frOmthe, mounting fl nges22' 11ere they re pertu edaa .a 31, t receiv hinge ,pins ,32 ',(Fig. 2) that, carry the outer portions 33 of .the hinges These outer hinge portions of the hinges may be bolted to the doors 15 and 16 by meansof bolts 34 Th'edoors15 and 16' maybe constructed inany suitable manner, dePendinguponthe ,type treatmentto be given to textiles within the, cabinet. The cabinet, shown in the drawings is one that hasbeen found suitable for use in the treatment ofhosiery andnthe likerwith dry air.

highly saturated air or with steam, and -the doors are shown as being. 9f, hollow construction. tha may be lined with' any suitableheat insulating material. The doors eachjcomprise a frarne. 35,.0f U-shaped cross-section definingtheperiphery of; ,the, door. Anouter metal sheet 36 [is applied lo this frame v on the front.of the ,doot and a similar -sheet 37 is appliedfto the, ,frarneaon the inner. ,side,of,.:.,the.door, each; sheet, being secured .ltorthe frame, 35; asby .welding or. the like. The fQur; edges of the;front.shee afirarerfolde :rearw ndlyaalong the ides of the frame 35 as at 38, the rear portion 38a of the edgesrofhtheiront sheetextendingrearwardly beyoudthe sheet 37. A strip of soft rubber or other pliable material 39 is secured around the inner edges of the doors by means of a Z-shaped mounting strip 40 as shown in Fig. 4, the strip 39 being so positioned that when the doors 15 and 16Jare moved to their closed positions-the. stripwill engage. sealing surfaces. 11b, 12b and 13b on the front of theztop and-side-wall's-of the cabinet and the front edge of the door sill as shown in Fig. 5.

The doors: 15 andral'6 are. arranged .to. overlap: along their adjoining edges-when the doors are in closed position and the door 16 has mounted on-the frontthereof a pair Ofl vertically;sliding ;rods- 4Loperated-by links 42 actuated by door latching lever 43. When the doors are moved to closed positionthe latching lever 43 may be rotated to cause the upper rod 41 to engage a lug 44 mounted at the top of the doorway and to cause the lower rod-4L to engage-a similar lug'.(not shown on the sill of-the doorway.

Directly in'fronLof-the doorway on the-outside of the cabinet is avertically movable, wedge-shapedramp member designated generally .by the numeral 50. If desired, this ramp member may beof hollow construction comprising a top piece 51 providing a trafiic surface and two tapering upstanding sidemembers-52 and 53} hits normal position the ramp member'rests on the floor 18 on the lower edges of the verticalside members 52 and 53, as willbe best seen in Fig. 5. In this position it will be-seen that the inner end of the ramp member adjacent thedoor-sill is disposedbelow the-level of the-sill and below'thepath of movement of-the loweredges ofthe doors 15 and 16, thus permitting thedoors to'be moved to closed'position.

Bolted to the'floor 18- on each-side of theramp member is a base member54for-supportingmeans operated-by thedoors, during-opening movement thereof; for raising the-ramp memberfrom its normal receded position below the path. of the --doors to a position-wherein the inner-end of the'ramp member is substantially on a level with the door sill. Each base-member 54 compriscs a fiat bottom plate 55 'having formed on its upperside two-parallel upstanding plates 56 ha-ving opposedopenings-therein for receiving a pivotpin 57 which maybe held in placeby any'suitable means such as cotter keys 58". Pivotallymountedupon each pin 57- between the two upstanding plates 56 is a leverdesignated-generally by the numeral 59; One end of each lever 59 is received in a slot 60 cut in the vertical side members 52 and 53 of the ramp member 50; the'oppositeend of eachlever being-curved-rearwardly .on a radius about the'axis of the hinge pins 32.

When-the ramp-member 50 is in--its normal position resting'on the-floor 18,- the curved-"ends of'the lever-s 59 extend diagonally upwardly; into 'apath traversed-by the lower edges of the-doors'15' and '16'-when the doors are moved from theirclosed-positionsto their open positions. Thus; when the doors are opened, the lower edges of'the doors, upon which may be mounted scuff=plates61,come into contact with the upper edges of the curved ends of the levers 59'to pivot the same downwardlyto the positions shown by'the broken lines in Fig; 3. The-pivoting of the levers 59 lifts the inner endof the ramp member 50'to its operative position shown in-Fig; 6-wherein the innermost; end of the ramp member-and the traffic surface 51 thereon is substantially-levelwiththe door sill. Thus, asthe doors are moved to their open-position; the ramp member 50 isautomatically lifted by the doors to its elevated position and a mobile truck such as a truck maybe rolled up the ramp member 50 and'into-the interior of the cabinet. (The truck 65 may-be of anysuitable construction, the truckshown in the drawingsbeing-of theconstructiqn illustrated in the above mentioned patent tQ Henry Riehtsirnndbeing particularly adapted for sup; perting a plurality ,otba chesnofrhasient 66.;that, mayvbe treated in the cabinet.

With the truck disposed within the cabinet as shown in Fig. 1, the doors and 16 may be moved to closed position. In so doing, the lower edges of the doors pass off the upper edges of the curved portions of the levers 59 permitting the ramp member 50 to be lowered by its own weight to its normal position out of the path of the doors and below the lower edges thereof, thus permitting the doors to be moved to their completely closed positions and latched, whereupon the textile articles supported by the truck may be subjected to any desired treating medium inside the cabinet. When the treating operation has been completed, the doors may be unlatched and moved to their open positions, the ramp member 50 being automatically raised again to its operative position substantially on a level with the door sill as the doors are moved. The truck 65 may then be rolled out of the cabinet across the door sill and down the traffic surface 51 of the ramp member 50.

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, it will be understood that the invention may be constructed in various other embodiments which come within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination with a textile treating cabinet having a doorway therein through which a truck may be moved into said cabinet, an external, outwardly swinging door mounted on said cabinet for closing said doorway, a movable trafl'ic surface outside said cabinet in front of said doorway, said trafiic surface having a first position outside the path of movement of said door when said door is closed to permit opening and closing thereof and a second position in the path of said door and immediately adjacent said doorway when said door is open to permit movement of said truck across said trafiic surface and into said cabinet when said surface is in said second position, and a lever engaged by said door during opening movement thereof for moving said traffic surface from said first position to said second position.

2. In combination with a textile treating cabinet having a doorway therein through which a mobile textile supporting truck may be moved into said cabinet, a door mounted on said cabinet for opening and closing said doorway, a traffic surface movable with respect to said doorway, said traffic surface having a first position out-- side the path of movement of said door when said door is closed to permit opening and closing thereof and a second position in the path of said door and immediately adjacent said doorway when said door is open to permit movement of said truck across said trafiic surface and into said cabinet, and means cooperating with the lower edge of said door and operated thereby during opening and closing of said door for moving said traffic surface from one of its said positions to the other.

3. In combination with a textile treating cabinet having a doorway therein through which a mobile textile supporting truck may be moved into said cabinet, a door mounted on said cabinet for opening and closing said doorway, a trafiic surface movable with respect to said doorway, said trafiic surface having a first position out side the path of movement of said door when said door is closed to permit opening and closing thereof and a second position in the path of said door and immediately adjacent said doorway when said door is open to permit movement of said truck across said trafiic surface and into said cabinet, and means operated by movement of said door for moving said trafiic surface from one of its said positions to the other.

4. In combination with a textile treating cabinet having a doorway therein and a door sill over which a truck may be moved into said cabinet, an external, outwardly swinging door mounted on said cabinet for closing said doorway, said door having a lower edge extending below said sill, a movable traffic surface outside said cabinet in front of said doorway, said traffic surface having a first position outside the path of movement of said door when said door is closed to permit opening and closing of said door and a second position in the path of said door and immediately adjacent said sill when said door is open to permit movement of said truck across said traffic surface and said sill into said cabinet when said surface is in said second position, and a pivotally mounted lever engaged by said lower edge of said door during opening movement of said door for shifting said traffic surface from its said first position to said second position.

5. In combination with a textile treating cabinet having a doorway therein and a door sill over which a truck may be moved into said cabinet, an external, outwardly swinging door for closing said doorway, said door having a lower edge extending below said sill, a vertically movable trafiic surface outside said cabinet and in front of said doorway adjacent said door sill, said traific surface having a receded position below the level of said lower edge of said door when said door is closed to permit opening and closing movement of said door and a raised position when said door is open to permit movement of said truck across said traffic surface and said sill into said cabinet, and means operated by movement of said door for moving said traffic surface from one of its said positions to the other.

6. In combination with a textile treating cabinet having a doorway therein and a door sill over which a truck may be moved into said cabinet, an external, outwardly swinging door for closing said doorway, said door having a lower edge extending below said sill, a vertically movable traffic surface outside said cabinet and in front of said doorway adjacent said door sill, said traffic surface having said door when said door is closed to permit opening and closing movement of said door and a raised position when said door is open to permit movement of said truck across said trafiic surface and said sill into said cabinet when said surface is in said raised position, and a pivotally mounted lever engaged by said lower edge of said door during opening movement of said door for shifting said traffic surface from its said first position to said second position.

7. In combination with a textile treating cabinet having a doorway therein and a door sill over which a truck may be moved into said cabinet, a pair of external, outwardly swinging doors for closing said doorway, said doors having lower edges extending below said sill, a vertically movable ramp member outside said cabinet and in front of said doorway adjacent said door sill, said ramp member having a receded position below the level of said lower edges of said doors when said doors are closed to permit opening and closing movement of said doors and a raised position when said doors are open to permit movement of said truck up said ramp member and across said sill into said cabinet, and means operated by movement of said doors for moving said ramp member from one of its said positions to the other.

OTHER REFERENCES Architectural Record, October 1948, p. 179. 

